Some Advice On New Hardware / Computer

#1

Hello!

Alright, So I gotten my self into a bit of a situation. I bought a Macbook Pro (Late 2013) Before Leaving Melbourne. I bought this because I was moving to Beijing and needed something that gave me the ability to still work on 3D while also being mobile since i sold my I7 rig.

But my job offer didn’t go through, due to the company stuffing things up. It worked out ok, as i got a nice offer from a ad agency here.

Issue now is, when Im not at work and want to work on some of my stuff at home I feel the mobility isnt needed. I dont take my laptop to work due to security issues and it just stays at home plugged into the outlet. Im thinking if i dont need the mobility why not just sell it off and start building a better rig again.

Some of my older projects dont even open it chugs that badly despite it being an I7 with 16gb of ram.

I was look at options, Should I go with ordering in components or just buy a branded workstation from HP or DELL ?, Would love some advice here.

I was looking at either these two or building my own rig with my ordered components.

http://www8.hp.com/us/en/campaigns/workstations/z820.html
http://www.dell.com/us/business/p/precision-t7610-workstation/fs

But long term im going to go with this
http://www.nvidia.com/object/quadro-k5000.html#pdpContent=0

Thanks :smiley:

#2

Those machines are atrocious rippoffs, dont fall into the trap of buying low grade bottom of the barrel “workstations”. 4 core 1.8ghz cpu… junk. $1000 for an upgrade to a 4 core 3.4ghz cpu?.. thats criminal.

List the software you use and tell us your budget and youll get some good advice; but start by reading recent threads here with people asking the same thing.

#3

Im using Maya + Nuke for VFX work and Cinema4D + Adobe CC (PP + AE + AI + PS)
I also have the free edition for Houdini so i do some simulations from time to time.

I need something that is able to chug out Final Gather Renders with ease, as im planning on starting my animated short. Which Will large textures and environments.

I know its general but this is what i have in my head now :confused:

#4

And the budget? Those machines you listed range from 2k to 10k

#5

well there is no budget and by that what i mean ill have to save up for it via my salary, im looking at not going above 2k. later on i know ill have to dish out for that nvidia workstation card but thats later on for now im looking at something at around 1.5-2.5k maybe a xeon rig

#6

You don’t have to save for an nvidia workstation card unless you need hardware stereo in nuke on linux or something like that.
for 99% of the users, literally, GTX cards are equivalent or even better for a fraction of the price.

Even top tier VFX shops at this point are switching or considering switching a considerable amount of workstations to GTX cards, or have already. Seriously, don’t start thinking along those lines, it will only waste you money.

I just finished testing as thoroughly as you possibly can test a videocard every Kepler card above 500$, and every quadro card I tried except the K6000 gets absolutely destroyed by the 780, let alone by a 780ti or a Titan, which will actually match or outdo the K6000 on every front except amount of memory.

If rendering is important and you’re on a budget get the best i7 4xxxK you can afford under 500$, get 32GB of quality ram (I keep recommending G.Skill Ares as it’s reliable, fast, low footprint and cheap). Build the rest around it with whatever nVIDIA GTX 7X0 you can fit in the budget.

#7

^ That. Buy what you need, not what you’re told you need by salesmen.